When you've gotten the file typed in correctly, save it as something like "Menu.Reg" and then double click on that file, and answer "yes" to accept the changes.

To change your Start menu type, open Windows Explorer and click on View/Folder Options and then select the View tab. Scroll down to the "Files and Folders" area and you'll see the new checkbox there--- it appears as "Multi Column Start Menu." Check or uncheck it to switch instantly between multi-column and scrolling Menu types. It's very slick.

Thanks Milly!

(Ed. Note: More comments on this item are available here.)

Click to email this item to a friend
 http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm

return to top of page

3) Speed Up Your Start Menu!

OK, with item #2, above, we've thoroughly covered how to alter the way your Start menu works. Now let's talk about speeding it up!

Reader Leif Gregory (from the PCWize site at http://www.pcwize.com/ ) offers this tip for making the menus display and operate faster:

First, using a utility like X-Setup (from http://www.xteq.com ), change the "Start" menu delay to zero ms. Depending on whether you are using a utility other than X-Setup, you may have to hunt around for this. If you would rather, I have written the .reg import file for you to use, which will change just this variable. You can download it at:

http://www.pcwize.com/tech/computer/fixmenudelay.reg

Depending on your browser, it may open as a text page. Just click on File / Save-as to get it on your hard drive.

Once this file is downloaded (80 bytes), you just have to double-click it and answer "Yes" when it asks if you want to add the information to the registry. For those of you who are paranoid <grin>, you can view this file with a text editor to see exactly what key it will change in the registry.

The second and most effective way to speed up that sluggish behemoth is to get rid of all the unnecessary icons and folders that each software developer seems to think you'll need. For instance, do you really need the shortcut to the .HLP file? What about the uninstall, a link to their web site, the registration form, or the readme.txt file?

These are just shortcuts to those files which already exist (most likely in the Program Files\application name directory), and if you really need to use that particular file (very, very rarely in my personal experience), all you have to do is navigate down to the actual installed folder, or in many cases, just open the program and go to the Help or Help/About menu.

Here's the easiest way to clean up that Start menu. First, RIGHT-click the "Start" button and select "Open" from the context menu. You'll notice immediately, that in addition to a folder named "Programs" (it's got a funny icon, but it's still a folder), you'll see some other shortcuts to programs. Some of you may see just a couple, and some of you may see all sorts of stuff....

Think back to whenever you last used one of those programs listed up there. If it was a long time ago, or never, then you can most likely delete those shortcuts. You do this by selecting the icon {a single RIGHT click will do it] and [then selecting delete from the context menu. Note that you're not deleting any actual programs--- you're just deleting menu shortcuts to your programs.]

*** Do not delete the folder named "Programs".***

Now, double-click the Programs folder. Do the same steps as above to get rid of any shortcuts that you don't need, and then open each folder under the Programs folder and do the same there too.

*** Do not remove shortcuts from the Startup folder, or the Startup folder itself ***

Once you have gotten rid of all the extraneous help, web page, readme, register etc. junk shortcuts, you might have just a single shortcut in many of the folders.

Now here is where you get to be creative. Many of those shortcuts are related. For instance, ICQ, Netscape, IE, Opera, Agent, Outlook etc. are all Internet related applications. So in the Programs folder, create a new folder called Internet Apps or the one I like to use is Connectivity. Create other folders like, graphics, audio, games, utilities, and such....

This next step can be done two ways. The first is that because now most of your folders only contain one shortcut, it's easiest to drag and drop those single shortcuts into one of the new group folders (graphics, connectivity, utilities etc.) The pros to this are that the Start menu will open faster, the cons are that you will have a folder called say, Connectivity, which has the shortcuts for IE, Netscape, Opera, Outlook, ICQ, etc. in it If you don't mind grouping like this (I don't) then this is the best way.

For those of you who are a little more "segregational" you can just drag and drop the folders that contain the single shortcut into the group folder.

Once you have moved the shortcuts to wherever you now want them, you can delete the old folders that the shortcut was originally in (if you chose way one from above.)

Ok, you are now done! Left-click on your Start button, go to programs, and run your cursor over the folders. Ahhhhh, much, much faster now.

Of course, Your Mileage May Vary depending on just how much junk you had on the Start Menu to begin with.---Leif Gregory

Thanks Leif!

Click to email this item to a friend
 http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm

return to top of page

-------------( Please Visit This LangaList Sponsor!) ------------

</b><script src="/ads.js">//</script>